Hernandez & Luna Produce v. Burbano et al

Filing 28

ORDER granting 27 Motion to Withdraw as Counsel. Attorney Timothy Dean Henkel terminated. Deadline to obtain new counsel 9/7/2017. Signed by Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr on 8/17/2017. (kpe) Modified text on 8/17/2017 (dm).

United States District Court
for the
Southern District of Florida
Hernandez & Luna Produce and
)
Quality First Produce, Inc., Plaintiffs )
)
v.
) Civil Action No. 17-21682-Civ-Scola
)
Luis A. Burbano and others,
)
Defendants.
)
Order Granting Motion To Withdraw As Counsel
Attorney Timothy Henkel of Henkel & Cohen, P.A., asks the Court for
permission to withdraw from representing the Defendants in this matter
because irreconcilable differences have arisen. (Mot. to Withdraw, ECF No. 27.)
A lawyer who determines that withdrawing from representing a client is
appropriate often feels conflicted between his ethical duty to maintain client
confidences and her need to explain to a court that withdrawal is justified (or
even required) in the case. To deal with this, our legal system has developed
the term “irreconcilable differences” as a euphemism to mean that the lawyer
can no longer ethically and fairly represent the client. See, e.g., Horan v.
O’Connor, 832 So. 2d 193, 193 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). Courts have accepted this
practice. Id. at 194.
As Mr. Henkel notes, the next deadline in this matter is not until
September 25, 2017, when the parties must submit a joint interim status
report and a proposed order scheduling mediation. Mr. Henkel represents that
he has assisted the Defendants in producing documents in response to the
Plaintiffs’ discovery requests and there are no pending issues. (Mot. at 2.) At
this point in the litigation, withdrawal of counsel should not cause too great of
an impact on the progress of the case. Having reviewed the Motion, the record,
and the relevant legal authorities, the Court grants the motion to withdraw
(ECF No. 27). Attorney Timothy Henkel and the law firm Henkel & Cohen, P.A.,
are permitted to withdraw as counsel of record for the Defendants effective
immediately.
The Court further orders that:
1. Because a corporation may not litigate a matter pro se, Defendants
Lua Enterprises, Corp., Lua Produce Corp., Lua Farms, Corp. and
Lua Farms Group, Corp. are ordered to retain new counsel on or
before September 7, 2017. The new counsel must file a notice of
appearance by this deadline. If the Defendants fail to timely retain
new counsel, the Court may hold the corporations in default.

2. The individual Defendant, Luis A. Burbano, must either (a) retain
new counsel and have that counsel file a Notice of Appearance with
the Court by September 7, 2017, or (b) file a Notice with the Court
by September 7, 2017, stating that he wishes to represent himself
(i.e., proceed pro se). If Burbano fails to do either (a) or (b) by that
date, the Court may hold him in default.
3. Until the Defendants retain counsel, all future filings,
correspondence, and orders must be sent to the following address:
Luis A. Burbano
1442 NW 82nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33126
and
[e-mail]
4. The Court directs the Clerk to update the docket to reflect the pro
se status of Defendant Burbano and to link the above address with
this party to ensure that the Clerk’s Office will mail copies of future
filings, correspondence, and orders to the Defendants.
Done and ordered at Miami, Florida on August 17, 2017.

___________________________________
Robert N. Scola, Jr.
United States District Judge
Copy to:
Luis A. Burbano
1442 NW 82nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33126